Katie Holmes has closed
a deal to join Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges
in The Giver, a drama from The Weinstein Co. and Walden Media that's
being directed by Phillip Noyce. The sci-fi epic will open in
theaters August 15, 2014.

Brenton Thwaites is the
young star of the sci-fi project, which tells of a society in which there is no
conflict, racism or sickness.

Thwaites plays a young boy who is selected for his life service as the
Receiver of Memories and works with The Giver (Bridges), an old man who teaches
the boy to use his unique gifts of the senses. Streep is the society’s
Chief Elder, an authoritative and antagonistic woman who assigns the young their
tasks.

Holmes will play Thwaites’ mother, a strict obeyer of the laws that govern
what is described as an antiseptic society.

The movie, which is eyeing a budget of around $25 million, is being produced
by Nikki Silver of Tonik Productions along with Neil
Koenigsberg and Bridges.

Michael Mitnick wrote the most recent script adapting the
Lois Lowry YA novel.

A shoot in South Africa is being planned, although it is likely that Steep
will shoot her scenes in England, where she is filming Disney’s Into the
Woods.

Holmes is repped by ICM Partners, John Carabino Management and Sloane
Offer.